Rome: An Empire's Story

Once upon a time Kings ruled this City, but they were not fated to have
home-grown successors. Outsiders took over their rule, foreigners in fact,
for when Numa succeeded Romulus he came from the Sabine lands—not
far away to be sure, but it made him a foreigner in those days. When
Tarquin the Elder succeeded Ancus Marcius,well he was of mixed race, for
his father was Demaratus the Corinthian, while his mother was born in
Etruscan Tarquinii. She was not a wealthy women, as you might imagine
given she had agreed to such an inferior marriage, and for that reason he
was unable to hold office at home. But he migrated to Rome, and here was
made king.

(From a speech of Claudius inscribed on bronze, ILS 212)

Desperately Seeking the Romans

The Emperor Claudius’ speech to the Senate in AD 48 proposed opening up
membership of the Senate to the wealthiest and most noble citizens of the
provinces of Gaul. Part of his words are preserved on a bronze tablet at Lyon,
and Tacitus records the resentment the proposal aroused among senators.1
Fear that admitting new blood might dilute national identity is all too familiar today. Claudius’ appeal to an ancient tradition of inclusiveness maybe did
not convince, but then he was an emperor and did not need to. But he was
correct that Roman identity was in flux right from the very beginning.

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